Tillamook Cheese Factory Grilled Cheese Contest and Cook-‐off Section 1: Contest Overview Do you think you have the best tasting, best melting, most unique and utterly irresistible grilled cheese sandwich recipe out there? Are you willing to put it to the test? Then you need to enter the Tillamook Cheese Factory Grilled Cheese Contest! Submit your one-‐of-‐a-‐kind recipe and you will become eligible to be one of three finalists chosen to compete! The cook-‐off is on Saturday, April 12, 2014 at 12:00 noon, to be held at the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook, Oregon. A panel of judges including chefs, local personalities, and professional cheese tasters (yes, there are such people!) will decide who gets bragging rights for the best darned Tillamook Grilled Cheese sandwich on the planet. So if you’ve got what it takes to grill up the best all-‐time combo of bread and cheese, and you wouldn’t mind an extra $500 in your pocket, get your entry in now! See Official Rules, How to Enter and additional contest details below. Section 2: How to Enter No payment or purchase is necessary to enter this contest. No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win this contest, and purchases will not increase your chances to win. Entry into this contest constitutes your acceptance of the Official Rules. There are three ways to enter: Submit your name, address, daytime phone number, e-‐mail and recipe online to: [email protected] All entries must be received by 11:59pm PDT on Monday, March 31, 2014; OR Submit Entry by USPS mail to: Tillamook Grilled Cheese Recipe Contest 4185 Highway 101 N Tillamook, OR 97141 All entries must be received by 11:59pm PDT on Monday, March 31, 2014; OR Submit Entry in person at the Tillamook Cheese Factory retail office at 4175 Highway 101 N, Tillamook. All entries delivered in person must be received by 6:00pm PDT on Monday, March 31, 2014. All submissions must include name, address, phone number(s) and e-‐mail address if one is available. Three finalists will be chosen. Finalists will be notified by phone no later than Thursday, April 3rd by 5pm PDT. Finalists chosen must be willing and available to participate in the grand finale cook-‐off which takes place on Saturday, April 12, 2014 at the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook, OR. Only finalists will be notified. All decisions are final and scores from preliminary judging will not be made public. For more information call 503-‐815-‐1300. Submission Fields include: Full Name, address, city, state, zip code, daytime phone number, and e-‐mail. Recipe title, Ingredients, Preparation instructions, Number of servings. Refer to the Recipe Entry Format for exact specifications for how your recipe should be written. An example of an unacceptable submission is also given. Recipes not following the exact specifications are subject to disqualification. Section 3: Contest Rules 1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. See details above on how to enter and submit recipes. 2. Submissions must include name, address, phone number and email address, along with the recipe. 3. Deadlines vary for Grilled Cheese recipe entry submissions depending on whether they are mailed, hand delivered or sent online. Any submissions received after the posted date will be disqualified. 4. This contest is open to all amateur-‐cooking enthusiasts. Professional chefs, cooks, caterers, or those who cook at anytime in the course of their employment are not eligible for entry. By entering, each entrant warrants and represents that she/he is not now or has ever been employed as a professional chef, cook, or caterer; and additionally warrants and represents that she/he has not previously received or is currently receiving any professional culinary training. 5. One entry per person will be accepted. 6. Three finalists will be chosen to compete in the cook-‐off. In the event that an entrant is unable to participate in the cook-‐off, his or her place will be given to the next highest scoring entrant. 7. All round trip travel expenses to compete in the final cook-‐off in Tillamook are the responsibility of the finalist. 8. All decisions are final and scores from judging will not be made public. 9. If selected as a finalist, recipe must be prepared exactly as it was submitted. Any changes to the recipe, or omissions or substitutions of ingredients, could result in disqualification. 10. All Grilled Cheese entries must contain bread and Tillamook cheese, among any other ingredients. Tillamook cheese must be the only cheese used in the entry; the flavor of Tillamook cheese used is at the discretion of the entrant and more than one variety of Tillamook cheese may be included. The bread choice is at the discretion of the entrant. All other ingredients that make up the sandwich are at the discretion of the entrant. 11. Recipes must be made entirely from scratch, but may make use of pre-‐packaged products as well (for example: prepared sauces, canned or jarred condiments, etc.). 12. Recipes in cookbooks may be used for inspiration, but any recipes found to be duplicated exactly will be disqualified. ®
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13. Tillamook Cheese is not responsible for late, lost, stolen, illegible, incomplete, mutilated, misdirected or postage-‐due entries, or for technical, hardware, software or communication malfunctions of any kind which may limit the ability to participate, or by any human error which may occur in the processing of the entries in this promotion. 14. All entries and submitted materials, and any copyrights therein, including recipes and photographs, become the sole property of Tillamook Cheese and will not be returned. By entering, each entrant warrants and represents that his/her recipe has never been published, and grants Tillamook Cheese the right to edit, publish, promote and otherwise use the recipe without further permission, notice or compensation. 15. This contest is subject to all applicable state, federal and local regulations. Void where prohibited by law. 16. All state, federal and local taxes are the responsibility of the winner. 17. Tillamook Cheese reserves the right to cancel this contest without notice. 18. By submitting an entry, contestants give permission (except where prohibited by law) to use contestant’s name, images, hometown, likeness, and photograph (all at Sponsor’s discretion) for future advertising, marketing, publicity in any and all media now or hereafter devised throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification or permission. Entrant hereby acknowledges that Entry and all other materials of every kind whatsoever created by contestant relating to the Contest (collectively, the “Work”) are a “work made for hire” (as that term is used in the United States Copyright Act) for Sponsor, and assigns to Sponsor (or, if any applicable law prohibits or restricts such assignment, contestant hereby grants to Sponsor an exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-‐free, transferable license of) limited right, title and interest in and to such Work, including, without limitation, all rights of every kind and nature (whether now known or hereafter devised, including all copyrights therein and thereto and all renewals and extensions thereof), throughout the universe, in perpetuity, for all purposes, in any and all media, whether now known or hereafter devised. By submitting an Entry, Contestant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor may obtain many submissions under this Contest and that such entries may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to others submitted under this Contest and/or other contests staged and/or sponsored by the Sponsor, and waive any and all claims contestant may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future, that any composition, design, video and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by the Sponsor (or its respective designees) may be similar to his/her Entry. Contestant acknowledges and agrees that the Sponsor does not have now, nor shall any of them have in the future, any duty or liability, direct or indirect, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise, with respect to the infringement or protection of any copyright in and to contestant’s Entry. 19. By submitting a recipe, contestants agree that Tillamook Cheese, its employees and their families; judges, vendors, participants or volunteers, and the employees or families associated with those organizations shall have no liability in connection with acceptance or use of prizes awarded. 20. Under no circumstances will an entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, other than entrant’s actual out-‐of-‐pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with entering this contest), and entrant (or, if an eligible minor, his/her parent or legal guardian) further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrants and Sponsor in connection with this contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of Oregon, USA, without regard to Oregon choice of law rules. 21. Winners will be announced no later than 3pm on Saturday, April 12, 2014. 22. Failure to comply with these Official Rules may result in disqualification from the contest. Sponsor reserves the right to permanently disqualify any person it believes has intentionally violated these Official Rules. The contest is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void where prohibited by law. 23. The sponsor of this contest is Tillamook Cheese, Inc. 4185 Highway 101N, Tillamook, OR 97141. Section 4: Judging & Prizes Preliminary Judging 1. Any submissions received after the dates posted below will be disqualified. 2. E-‐mail submissions and submission mailed via the USPS must be received by 11:59pm PDT on Monday, March 31, 2014. 3. Hand delivered entries must be received 6:00pm PDT on Monday, March 31, 2014. 4. Upon receipt of your entry form, your recipe will be reviewed by the contest organizers to determine that it includes all elements required. Entrants not following the submission requirements will be disqualified. 5. 8 semi-‐finalists will be chosen based on use of Tillamook cheese, creativity and use of ingredients, recipe clarity, and perceived taste and texture. 6. Semi-‐finalist recipes will then be prepared exactly as written by the Food Service Manager and kitchen staff at the Creamery Café, located inside the Tillamook Cheese Factory, Tillamook, Oregon. Those prepared recipes will be judged on appearance, creativity and use of ingredients, taste, consistency and texture, and quality of cheese flavor. 7. The three top scoring contest entries in the preliminary judging event will advance to the cook off scheduled for Saturday, April 12, 2014 at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. 8. All finalists will be notified by phone by Thursday, April 3, 2014 by 5pm PDT. Only the finalists will be notified. The judges’ decisions are final and scores from the preliminary judging will not be made public. 9. In the event that a chosen finalist is unable to participate in the finals, his or her place will be given to the next highest scoring semi-‐finalist. Recipe Cook-‐off Judging 1. The Grilled Cheese Recipe Contest Cook-‐Off will be held at 12:00 noon on Saturday, April 12, 2014, at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, 4175 Highway 101 North, Tillamook, Oregon. 2. All Grilled Cheese Contest finalists will be provided with details regarding the cook-‐off once selected. 3. Finalists will cook and present their grilled cheese sandwich to a panel of judges in front of a live audience. 4. Finalist's recipes will be awarded points by the panel of judges, and the finalist with the highest number of points will be awarded the grand prize. Recipes will be judged based on appearance, creativity and use of ingredients, taste, consistency and texture, and quality of cheese flavor. 5. The grand-‐prize winner will be announced the day of the cook-‐off after judges have finished scoring all entries. 6. All decisions are final and scores from the grand finale cook-‐off will not be made public. Audience Sampling Once the three finalists have presented and served the judges and they are tallying the scores, the finalists will prepare tastes of their recipe for cook-‐off event attendees to sample. Prizes 1. The Grand Prize Winner will receive $500 cash and a Tillamook goodie basket. The retail value of this prize is $650.00. 2. Both runners up will each receive 12 pounds of Tillamook® cheese and a Tillamook goodie basket. The retail value of each prize is $128.00. 3. The Grand Prize winning recipe will be featured as a menu special at the Creamery Cafe at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.